The Task-Evoked Pupil Response in Divided Auditory Attention Tasks

Abstract

Auditory divided attention tasks involve significantly greater cognitive load than auditory selective attention tasks, even when memory demands are equal. In addition, mean and peak pupil dilation generated during the DDT are not significantly associated with digit memory capacity. The findings indicate that poor performance on tasks involving divided attention may be due to a cognitive deficit as opposed to an auditory processing deficit. Clinicians should consider this when using divided attention tasks in auditory processing assessments.